The Pony with Two Souls

Twilight stretched, a new sense of determination filling her. Even if that determination was fueled by spite for her once beloved Princess Celestia, it was still determination.

As she leapt from her bed, she carried her cast-leg’s weight, walking with the three functional ones. “We have to come back within two weeks, remember that.” She said, speaking to Celestia, but also into the empty room.

Celestia would’ve rolled her eyes if she could. Now she wanted prompt removal of the cast, but when Celestia had suggested that just the day before, she was adamantly opposed. “Should’ve just had it removed yesterday.” The voice in her head whispered.

“Yeah, yeah.” Twilight replied dismissively. “Just tell me where to start looking for the Elements.”

Celestia’s spirit turned up at the mention of the Elements. Despite Twilight’s ambitions of dispelling her from her new body, Celestia was more than happy to be gathering the Elements. For, as long as she could keep them away from Him, she was content. “Well, seeing as we know the location of the Element of Magic… it is safely tucked away with the pony known as Rarity. Perhaps we had ought to start in Cloudsdale with Spitfire?”

Twilight was eager to go, and eager was something she hadn’t been in quite some time. Strapping the saddle bag to her waist, carefully avoiding her wings, she was ready. She dropped the raw element of Generosity into the pouch, and dawned her cloak.

Off to save Equestria, as she’d always dreamed, as her swan song as a huntress.

Starswirl scurried about. With his black cloak covering his entire body, he hid in the shadows. As a fugitive, he could not afford to be recognized. Any pony could take it upon themselves to try and apprehend him, and despite his great magic skill, his horn was still capped.

The crystal hold, wrapped around his horn, prevented him from practicing any magic. This was but a minor issue, considering his life was on the line. He had bigger fish to fry.

The pony met him, just as instructed. “State your name.” He commanded.

The pegasus offered him a scoff, as if he should have known who she was. “Lightning Dust.”

Starswirl smirked under the shadow of his hood. “I can’t fly up to Cloudsdale, I need some pony to retrieve something for me.”

The pony was as straightforward as they come. “Wind Rider said there’d be bits for this.”

A pony willing to betray Spitfire for a couple bits. He was pleased. “You’re his pupil?” He said, dropping ten golden bits onto the ground between them.

“Could say that.” Lightning Dust replied, her yellow mane catching the light of the street lamp. She counted the bits with a single hoof. “Not much, huh?” She said, pushing the bits back toward the cloaked stranger.

“More, once I have it.” Starswirl answered.

“How much more?”

“100, do it quick and I’ll make it 200.”

“What kind of ‘thing’ are we talking about, anyway?” Lightning asked, pulling the gold bits back her way.

Starswirl chuckled out loud. “Oh just a pink fragment of stone, Spitfire has it, but I need it.”

“A Pink rock? Can’t you just get one and paint it?” She asked, rolling her eyes. “Never mind, I’ll do it.” She agreed finally, recalling the bits on the metaphorical table.

“Fantastic!” Starswirl yipped cheerfully. Pulling his enthusiasm down a notch, her continued. “Return to me in three days time.”

“All I’m saying, is that in 57 lifetimes I have never broken a bone, Luna’s never broken a bone, the others, never.” Celestia rambled as they trotted out to the Canterlot city limits. Twilight could hear her, but fortunately she wasn’t speaking aloud.

Twilight stopped, looking at the path ahead of her. “So if you guys are so immune and can heal yourselves that quickly, then why didn’t you use your ‘magical healing abilities’ to stay in Celestia’s body and not mine?”

This gave Celestia some pause. “I guess somethings just cannot be done.” She replied simply. “Just like an Alicorn cannot
break her bones.”

Twilight scoffed, as evidently: Alicorns could break their bones. And just because no pony Celestia had ever known had, that did not make it impossible. “Can I ask you something, Professor, I mean- Princess- I mean-“ Twilight began to stammer, looking for the proper way to address her.

Celestia was entertained by this, but was more than willing to talk to Twilight as she seemed to open up to her. “Oh yes, anything.”

“Are you being purposefully dense?” The question was so abrupt and rude, but it was phrased in a way that made it sound nonchalant. “All my life, I had believed you to be almost all-knowing… as a professor you taught such valuable lessons. But now, I’m beginning to believe you are just pulling my oh-so-broken leg.”

Celestia was offended, and justifiably so. “Twilight Sparkle, no pony knows everything. Not even I.” The tone had gone sour. The voice sounded so disappointed… maybe even sad. “I suppose you are right, Twilight. I am not accustomed to ponies correcting me. So, perhaps my perspective is that of a sheltered princess.”

Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad. Sure, she hadn’t always been friendly, but she’d never been callous. “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant: I thought you were different.”

“Smarter?” Celestia replied harshly, “I’m sure I’m a wealth of knowledge you no longer have any interest in tapping into.”

Twilight continued her three-legged march toward Cloudsdale. She didn’t know what to say. Her love for learning had disappeared, and no matter how far she was pushed, she could not find it again. And she definitely had tried.

Many ponies would not have ventured out this far, but Pinkie Pie was not like other ponies.

Wrapped in a long strip of fabric, one used to protect her fur from the sand and the wind, she made her way through a storm-ridden desert.

Since the fall of Celestia, Pinkie Pie had been walking. Walking and hopping and moving. She had not stopped for more than a day at a time, she had some place to be. Some place other ponies would not be able to find. Some creature she needed to see.

Guided by the chaos in her soul, she journeyed toward the strange place. Some place where even she, should have never been able to find.

Spitfire took the hallway early the next morning. Her stride was aggressive, that was ordinary for her. The door of her office was closed, she opened it, though the latch seemed to be loose.

Unusual.

Upon entering, she took stock of the office. Had she been any pony else, it would have looked just as it had every other day.

But Spitfire was Captain of the Wonderbolts, head of the school, one of Celestia’s most respected officers. She was so detail-oriented she would have smelled trouble from a thousand miles away.

Somepony had been in here, scavenging…

And no matter how they had ‘tried’ placing everything back in the way it had been, they had failed by millimeters. “Soarin.” She said, and he appeared as if he had been dwelling in the walls. He was at her beck and call, her second hand. “Someone was here.”

He looked around, and unlike her, he saw nothing to suggest her ideas. Though, he was not a fool, he knew better than to question her. “And what do you recommend we do?”

Her eyes narrowed, lowering her pilot shades that she wore regardless of whether she was inside or out. “Nothing… nothing just yet.” She retorted.

Trotting over to the book shelf she pushed several things aside, and behind the Knick knacks was a small hoof-sized pressure plate. When pressed, it would reveal the location of the Element of Kindness.

Once she pressed the plate, a small mechanism behind the wall began to creek. Beside the plate, a flat lying panel slid open: revealing the pink crystal. It was still there.

It was the only object of real value, and while Spitfire couldn’t be sure whoever had broken in was in search of this… her intuition had rarely ever led her astray. “I say, we bring in the new recruits.”

Soarin knew this was more a command and less of a suggestion. “Yes, Captain.”

Spitfire tapped her hooves, in thought. She pressed the button again, concealing the Element of Kindness.

Twilight stood below the cloud-top city known as Cloudsdale. It was miles above them, but even from their low position the city seemed enormous.

“If Spitfire did as I said, the Element of Kindness is stored inside the school.” Celestia said, speaking freely, as nearly no travelers traveled below Cloudsdale. Her voice was not commanding or even proud like it had been before. It now seemed straight-to-the-point. As if she was no longer wasting her breath on Twilight.

Twilight was a list-maker, so her priorities lied without getting up to Cloudsdale. As a unicorn, she could use a spell to give herself the temporary ability to walk on the clouds… this would be quite taxing on her though, and with her injury, she needed to reserve as much of her magic and energy as she could.

Celestia, on the other hand, knew exactly how they were going to get to Cloudsdale, even if Twilight had already forgotten. “Do you mind if I take over for just a moment.”

Twilight tapped her front hoof to the ground, in fact she did mind, but if Celestia thought she could come up with a better solution, she would welcome her to try. “For just a moment.” She repeated the words to emphasize the fleeting nature of her permission.

“Yes, just until we arrive in Cloudsdale.” Celestia confirmed, and for once they seemed to agree.

Celestia lifted the purple wings, stretching them, assessing their size. Twilight hadn’t even thought of flying. Pehaps, because she had never flown a day in her life. As the princess patted her wings against the air- a familiar sense of cold panic washed over their shared body.

Twilight was freaking out, again. “Please relax, this is the least taxing method of travel.” Their hooves left their familiar home on the ground.

Twilight couldn’t help but shiver with anxiety. The sensation of air on her wings was so unfamiliar and uncomfortable. The feeling of having wings- period- was uncomfortable.

Celestia did her best to maintain calm, to not grow agitated, to not aggravate Twilight. Because, at least for now, she was going along with her plan.

And even if they were getting along, they were working together (more-or-less).

As their hooves touched down on the fluffy white clouds, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. While it wasn’t exactly solid-ground, it was something she could walk on. And that was good enough for her. “I guess you were right.” She said, regaining the primary control role.

Celestia sighed, “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Not sure.” Lightning Dust huffed tiredly. She’d been up all night searching the office for a rock. And what could be so special about a rock, anyway?

“Where else would she keep something really important?” her coach asked her. Wind Rider was a well-regarded forever member of the Wonderbolts. Fastest in his time, and while he’d had his days in the limelight, he still searched for fame and power. Lightning had nothing to say, she wasn’t able to findanything. “Starswirl isn’t gonna like this.” The stallion mumbled.

Lightning Dust’s ears turned up at the mention of the infamous warlock, and as dense as she was, she was able to put two-and-two together. The cloaked figure was the fugitive himself, and whatever he wanted… must’ve been pretty important.

Twilight and Celestia moseyed on up to the school gates. As they approached, they spotted a familiar face. “Oh hey, Twilight Sparkle right? From the School for Gifted Unicorns?”

The rainbow-maned Pegasus seemed so familiar to Twilight, and fortunately, Celestia never forgot a name. “Rainbow Dash, you study here now?” The two souls seemed to click instantaneously.

Rainbow seemed a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of her neck as she hovered before them. “I needed someplace to go after the school got destroyed. No offense but, I wasn’t waiting around for the new school to be built.”

Twilight tilted her head slightly as a sign of understanding. Rainbow Dash had been a first-year student when the invasion had occurred, she wasn’t willing to put her life on hold just because the school fell. “No, no, none taken.” Twilight said, shaking, as she was slightly envious of Rainbow’s drive.

“So…” Rainbow Dash seemed to look her over, raising an eyebrow as she came to realize she didn’t seem to be exerting herself even slightly while walking on the clouds. “What brings you all this way up?”

Twilight and Celestia’s spirits seemed to swirl, ‘she could be some help to us.’ Celestia’s voice said, but Twilight wasn’t sure.

“We need to talk to Spitfire.” They decided finally.

Rainbow’s face went from slight embarrassment and confusion, to adamant dismissal. “That’s not gonna happen, Spitfire’s on a tirade about some pony breaking into her office.” She rambled bluntly.

“Breaking into her office!?” Celestia barked aloud.

The sudden outburst put Rainbow Dash on alert, “hush! Okay!” She demanded, not realizing exactly who she was giving demands to. “She’s gonna have my neck if she hears you shouting like that, alright?”

And just like that, the soul pair buttoned their mouth. Twilight spoke lowly now, “listen Rainbow Dash, we need to talk to her about the Elements.”

The Pegasus’s face fell, her conscious being dragged back to her last day at the Canterlot school. Learning of the Elements of Harmony by pure happenstance… no… she wouldn’t go back there again. “Look, I’m not trying to get involved with all that anymore.”

Twilight seemed to take hypocritical offense to this. “We need to speak with her!” She insisted.

Rainbow Dash landed squarely on her hooves. “I’m not interested in that ancient Equestria business anymore, alright? I want to get my license, and join the Wonderbolts. That’s it.” She huffed out a breath, “…it was nice seeing you.” She said finally, before taking off on wing once again.

“Well, now what are we going to do?” Twilight asked, looking over toward the guarded school gates.

Celestia seemed to call for her hoof to tap, but she was not in full control. ‘Well-‘ she thought into Twilight. “There is some pony else, Rainbow Dash’s companion. She, too, was a student of mine. Perhaps she could be of help to us.”